Common agricultural products are susceptible to degradation and decomposition (i.e., spoilage) when exposed to the environment. Such agricultural products can include, for example, eggs, fruits, vegetables, produce, seeds, nuts, flowers, and/or whole plants (including their processed and semi-processed forms). Non-agricultural products (e.g., vitamins, candy, etc.) are also vulnerable to degradation when exposed to the ambient environment. The degradation of the agricultural products can occur via abiotic means as a result of evaporative moisture loss from an external surface of the agricultural products to the atmosphere and/or oxidation by oxygen that diffuses into the agricultural products from the environment and/or mechanical damage to the surface and/or light-induced degradation (i.e., photodegradation). Furthermore, biotic stressors such as, for example, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and/or pests can also infest and decompose the agricultural products.
Conventional approaches to preventing degradation, maintaining quality, and increasing the life of agricultural products include refrigeration and/or special packaging. Refrigeration requires capital-intensive equipment, demands constant energy expenditure, can cause damage or quality loss to the product if not carefully controlled, must be actively managed, and its benefits are lost upon interruption of a temperature-controlled supply chain. Special packaging can also require expensive equipment, consume packaging material, increase transportation costs, and require active management. Despite the benefits that can be afforded by refrigeration and special packaging, the handling and transportation of the agricultural products can cause surface abrasion or bruising that is aesthetically displeasing to the consumer and serves as points of ingress for bacteria and fungi. Moreover, the expenses associated with such approaches can add to the cost of the agricultural product.
The cells that form the aerial surface of most plants (such as higher plants) include an outer envelope or cuticle, which provides varying degrees of protection against water loss, oxidation, mechanical damage, photodegradation, and/or biotic stressors, depending upon the plant species and the plant organ (e.g., fruit, seeds, bark, flowers, leaves, stems, etc.). Cutin, which is a biopolyester derived from cellular lipids, forms the major structural component of the cuticle and serves to provide protection to the plant against environmental stressors (both abiotic and biotic). The thickness, density, as well as the composition of the cutin (i.e., the different types of monomers that form the cutin and their relative proportions) can vary by plant species, by plant organ within the same or different plant species, and by stage of plant maturity. The cutin-containing portion of the plant can also contain additional compounds (e.g., epicuticular waxes, phenolics, antioxidants, colored compounds, proteins, polysaccharides, etc.). This variation in the cutin composition as well as the thickness and density of the cutin layer between plant species and/or plant organs and/or a given plant at different stages of maturation can lead to varying degrees of resistance between plant species or plant organs to attack by environmental stressors (i.e., water loss, oxidation, mechanical injury, and light) and/or biotic stressors (e.g., fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, etc.).